


Commiseration

by Res_CVX



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Res_CVX/pseuds/Res_CVX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke couldn't believe that a simple meeting was enough to change his goal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He had already settled into his bed when Sasuke felt that something was wrong. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up, only to find himself on the ground, in the middle of the Uchiha compound. Getting up quickly, he scanned the area, but there was no one around. Looking around the compound again, Sasuke felt his heart clench. Moisture started to build up in his eyes, before he clenched his hands and blinked them away. Now was no time to cry. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke started walking.

As of right now, he had already decided that he was going to leave the village with the Sound Four. He needed to become stronger. He needed to defeat Itachi and avenge his clan. Looking around, he realized with a jolt that he unconsciously walked towards his old house. He impulsively started walking through the door. He headed straight for the center of the house where the garden had been. Smelling flowers that should have long since died, Sasuke raced towards the door, and pulled it open. He froze. Not only were the flowers in full bloom, but someone else was standing in the center, with his back facing Sasuke. Sasuke reached for a kunai before remembering that he was in his pajamas.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The person jumped and turned around. Coal black met with startled green eyes. The person in the garden (Sasuke also noted that he too was wearing what looked like pajamas), had dark messy hair and round framed glasses.

"Huh? So there's someone else here," he said, a look of relief passing over his face.

"Who are you?" Sasuke repeated. The other person looked startled again.

"Potter Harry," he said slowly. Potter looked at him as though expecting something. When Sasuke made no move, Potter sighed in relief.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked. He was being rude, but there was a complete stranger standing in the middle of his garden. He had all rights to be rude. Potter blinked.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself as well, and I have no idea. I went to sleep, and I ended up in here." Sasuke was still feeling annoyed.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"Did you fall asleep and end up here as well, Sasuke?" Sasuke was miffed that he was addressing him so informally.

"Yes, I did," he replied. Potter sighed.

"So you don't know where we are as well."

"This is my family home," Sasuke said coldly. Potter looked surprised.

"O-Okay..." Potter looked awkwardly away. "Do you mind if I leave the garden?" Sasuke briefly contemplated the question before nodding. He stood aside as Potter walked by. He followed Potter as he walked outside of his home. Once outside, Potter's jaw dropped. "This place is huge." Potter turned around. "Your family lives here?"

"Yes, this was where my whole clan had lived," Sasuke corrected him. Potter froze at his use of past tense. Sasuke mentally hit himself. Great, now he was going to ask what happened.

"Oh, you too," he muttered. It was Sasuke's turn to freeze. Too? Did that mean Potter lost his family as well? Seeing his shocked face, Potter gave a small sad smile. "Yeah, my parents died when I was one."

"How did they die?" Sasuke blurted out before he could stop himself. Potter looked taken back, but still answered.

"They were killed by someone who was trying to kill me," he answered. Sasuke blinked at the response. Potter walked over, and took a seat at the steps. Sasuke hesitated for a moment before sitting down next to him.

"Why was he trying to kill you?" Sasuke asked again. He hastily added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Sasuke knew what it was like for people to walk up to him and ask about personal details. Potter slowly shook his head.

"It's alright. I came to terms with it. There was a war going on, and my parents were fighting in it, so they were eventually targeted. But for some reason, he wanted me dead specifically."

"Was it in the last shinobi war?" Potter looked at him blankly.

"The last what war?" Potter asked, confused.

"Shinobi war," Sasuke repeated. Potter stared at him before tossing his head back and laughing. Now, Sasuke was feeling irritated.

"What's so funny, Potter?" It took a few moments for him to stop laughing.

"Do you recognize the name Lord Voldemort?" Sasuke shook his head. "England?" Sasuke shook his head again. "Thought so."

"Thought what?"

"We're not from the same place," Potter said. "I thought it was a fluke that you didn't recognize my name. It's odd that you don't know Voldemort, and you not knowing the name of the country means that we're not from the same place. By the way," he added, "please call me Harry."

"You're famous where you are from?" Harry rubbed the back of his neck.

"Kinda...?"

"I thought it was weird that you had no reaction to my name as well..."

"You're famous as well?" Harry asked.

"Kinda," Sasuke replied with a smirk. Harry stuck a tongue out at him. "You don't know why you were targeted?" Sasuke could not understand why someone would want to go through the effort to kill a baby. Harry shook his head. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sasuke was seeing Harry on a new light.

"My whole clan was killed in the compound." Harry turned to look at him, his eyes wide with shock.

"You don't have to tell me, you know," he said. Sasuke slowly shook his head.

"Can you listen?" Harry nodded. Sasuke went straight into the story of what happen that night. With slight sick amusement, he watched as the expressions on Harry's face go from shock to distress to horror.

"Why did your older brother kill so many people?" Harry asked, saddened. Sasuke felt a rush of anger.

"He. Is. Not. My. Older. Brother," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. He blinked when he found himself harshly gripping the collar of Harry's shirt. Harry only looked momentarily surprised. With a short apology, he let go, and sat back down.

"You don't have any idea why?" Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"No I don't," he spat out.

"Were the two of you close?" Furious, Sasuke turned to face Harry. He opened his mouth to speak, but meeting calm green eyes, he stopped. Blinking, he looked away. "Mind if I tell you a story?" Sasuke blinked and faced him. A moment later, he nodded, and Harry went straight into a story about someone named Sirius Black. Sasuke sat in silence as Harry talked about the friendship Black and his father had, and then the betrayal by the man that was supposed to be his godfather. Harry then mentioned that Black was caught after the deaths of thirteen people, and thrown into prison. Sasuke now knew why Harry was so sympathetic. He was in the same position. At hearing that Black had escaped from prison, Sasuke looked startled.

"Do you intend on hunting him down then?" It was Harry's turn to look startled.

"I-Is that what you are doing?" Sasuke nodded.

"I intend on hunting him down to avenge my clan." Instead of looking impressed, Harry looked almost disappointed. "You don't care about what he did?"

"I have no need to go after him."

"Why? He is the reason your parents are dead," Sasuke said in disbelief. Did Harry honestly not care? Harry looked towards the ground.

"To be honest, when I initially heard the story, going after him was my first thought. Like you, I was angry at him. I wanted him dead."

"What changed?"

"You said you and your brother were close, right?" Sasuke's confusion overrode his annoyance. What did that have anything to do with Harry changing his mind?

"Yes..."

"And what he did, did it seem out of character for him?" Sasuke's memory of that week replayed in his mind. He had been acting weird that whole time, but before that... The image of the smiling, younger Itachi crossed him mind. Sasuke forcibly shoved that image away.

"Before that happened, he had been acting weird..."

"And before that?" Harry prompted.

"Before that, I… I would not have thought he would do something like that..." Sasuke mentally shook himself. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"People initially believed that Sirius Black would never do something like that, and they were right." Sasuke gaped at him.

"What?"

"He was framed. He never betrayed my parents. He's innocent." Sasuke stared at him.

"Are you saying that Itachi is─" Harry put his left hand on his arm to stop him.

"I'm not saying that he is innocent. All I'm saying is that you should learn the whole story first before going in, guns blazing."

"Guns blazing?" Harry waved it away.

"Just get answers first," Harry said. Sasuke shrugged off Harry's hand. Noticing something, he looked back at his hand.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," Harry said hastily, shoving his left hand out of sight. Confused, Sasuke dropped the subject.

"But he told me why..."

"What did he say?" Harry asked curiously.

"He wanted to measure his abilities..." Now that Sasuke said that out loud, he realized how flimsy of an excuse it was. Harry blinked.

"I don't know him at all, but even to me, that sounds like a BS answer." Sasuke closed his eyes, and went through the memory of what happened that night. Coming to a decision, he turned to face him.

"When I get stronger, I will hunt him down, and demand a better answer," he told Harry. Harry grinned.

"That's better." Harry paused. "If it turns out like you thought it was, you aren't actually going to kill him, right?" Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows.

"Of course I am. I'm guessing the idea of killing people in your world is not normal?" Harry nodded.

"That's what Death Eaters do." At Sasuke's confused expression, Harry elaborated. "That's what the people under Voldemort call themselves."

"We don't kill people for amusement," Sasuke said. He waited until Harry looked back at him. "We kill to protect ourselves and our... comrades from those trying to hurt us." Harry looked stunned before relaxing.

"I understand." They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sasuke thought over the conversations they had. He couldn't believe that somehow, Harry had convinced him to demand answers from Itachi instead of outright killing him, his goal for the last five years. "Hey," Harry said, breaking Sasuke away from his thoughts. "Earlier, you said when you get stronger. How do you intend on getting stronger?" Sasuke was almost ashamed to admit how, but nonetheless, he told Harry about his plans to go Orochimaru.

"But I'm not going to do as he says," Sasuke added, seeing the irked look on Harry's face.

"You'd better not," Harry said darkly. "But still, what are the odds that you have a creepy snake guy after you as well?"

"You too?" Harry nodded.

"But he's bald," Harry added. Sasuke let out a small grin. He tried to imagine Orochimaru bald and snorted.

"Are you sure you're not a figment of my imagination or my conscious?" Harry looked amused.

"I should ask you the same thing," Harry said. "But, I am real where I’m from."

"Likewise," Sasuke said.

"You know, your English is pretty good. I thought you would have a stronger accent." Sasuke frowned.

"What are you talking about? You're speaking Japanese." They both stared at each other.

"Well, I guess this was necessary, since it would be awkward if we couldn't talk to each other." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

They both jumped when the scene around them turned black.

"Wha─"

"I think we're waking up," Harry said. Sasuke looked at him.

"So soon?"

"I guess..." Harry held out a hand to Sasuke. "It was nice talking to you." Sasuke stared at the hand before lifting his own and shaking it.

"Yeah..."

"Maybe in the future, we'll see each other again," Harry said smiling. Sasuke gave a small smile of his own and nodded. "Stay safe and good luck."

"You as well," Sasuke said. Before his eyes, Harry faded away, and Sasuke opened his eyes to see the sun peeking through his curtains. Getting up, he pushed aside his curtains, and looked down at the street below. Though he went to bed feeling angry, now, he just felt calm.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry had been so used to seeing all different sorts of students running around Hogwarts, so seeing it empty right now was surreal. He stopped in front of a set of steps in front of the castle, and sat down, stretching over the steps in the sun. Even though the final battle had been only two weeks ago, there was no sign of any damage to the castle in this dream. He turned towards the area where the memorial was held a week ago. Harry had been forced to speak even though that had been the last thing he wanted to do, and since then, he had been harassed left and right by reporters and various other ministry members. He had secluded himself at Sirius's old house, so being out in the open in fresh air was a relief from the mold. Soaking in the sun, Harry closed his eyes and relaxed.

It was a few minutes later that he realized there was another presence next to him. It was his dream though, and since Voldemort was dead and gone, Harry had no idea who it could be. Harry kept his eyes closed, and waited to see if the person would do anything. When a few more minutes went by with nothing happening, Harry opened his eyes and turned his head. The person who had somehow entered his dreamscape was seated next to him, and was watching him closely. Somehow, Harry stopped himself from panicking. The person looked a little familiar. Harry blinked, and sat up.

"It's you," he said. The other person smiled.

"I was afraid for a moment that you forgot about me," the other person said, smiling a little.

"Of course not," Harry said, acting offended. Harry started to grin. "How are you, Sasuke?" Harry immediately noticed the difference in him.

"Better," Sasuke said, still smiling his small smile. That was one difference. Last time, Harry noticed that he didn't really smile. His eyes were also a lot warmer than they were last time. He also noticed, with annoyance, that he looked a hell of a lot taller than last time too.

"How did you even get here?" Harry asked.

"The same way you got into my dream," Sasuke said, smirking. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't answer my question. _I_ don't even know how I got into your dream."

"Then that's my answer," Sasuke said. Harry stuck out his tongue, and Sasuke grinned at him.

"It's been almost three years, right?" Sasuke nodded, and Harry let out a breath of relief. This meant that they were, at least, the same flow of time as each other.

"What happened?" Harry frowned.

"What do you mean?" Harry was pretty sure his expression didn't give anything away.

"You're expression looks a lot like it did last time we saw each other, and at that time, you said you were bothered by a war..."

"The war's over now," Harry said. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"It ended?"

"Two weeks ago... I defeated Voldemort there," Harry said, gesturing towards the direction of the entrance hall. Sasuke followed his hand, and stared at the area. His eyes then moved to take in the part of the castle visible to them.

"Where are we?"

"Hogwarts, the school I went to." Harry laughed when Sasuke's eyes bulged.

"This place is a school?!"  

"Yup," Harry said cheerfully. Sasuke was still gaping at him.

"It looks like something out of some fairy tale about dragons and witches, and stuff," Sasuke said. "You even have a creepy forest." Harry was momentarily confused before he remembered that he never told Sasuke about magic. He wondered if he should say something.

"It's called the Forbidden Forest," Harry said, deciding that he would bring it up later.

"The Leaf Village has a place called the Forest of Death," Sasuke replied.

"Has anyone actually died in there?"

"Yes," Sasuke said bluntly.

"Oh..."

"And your forest is just forbidden?"

"Well, there are things that can kill you in there!" Harry defended.

"Like?" Sasuke was humoring him.

"Well, there are..." Centaurs. "Dangerous horses, uh..." Giants. "Large-er-behemoths... Giant spiders that like to eat people..." Okay, Harry realized that not mentioning magic was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

"Horses, behemoths, giant spiders?"

"So what?" Harry said defensively. "What do you have?"

"Giant snakes, giant tigers, man eating plants-"

"I think we have some of them too," Harry said quickly, not wanting to lose. Harry pointed out the Whomping Willow. "That tree starts attacking you if you get near it." Sasuke looked intrigued, and actually stood up, and began walking towards it. Harry quickly stood up, grabbed onto his arm. "I wasn't joking when I said that it attacks, and it packs a punch."

"You went near it?"

"A few times," Harry said, making a face at the memories. "How about we walk around?" Sasuke looked around, and nodded. Relieved, Harry dragged him towards Hagrid's hut.

"I've been meaning to ask, do you have some equivalent to chakra?" Sasuke asked. Harry paused.

"Chakra?" Sasuke thought for a moment.

"It’s the energy in our bodies that we use that allows us to perform jutsus and other tasks." Harry thought for a moment. Was that their version of magic?

"We have a magic core," Harry said slowly.

"Magic? But that's not..." Sasuke fell silent at the look on Harry's face.

"I know it's hard to believe," Harry mumbled.

"I believe you," Sasuke said quickly. Harry shot him a small smile. "How exactly do you use your magic?" he asked. Harry pulled out his wand.

"We cast spells with it?"

"How?"

"How do you use chakra to cast your 'jutsu'?" Sasuke snorted a little at his butchered pronunciation. He launched into a long explanation about the chakra system, and by the end of it, Harry was gaping. Sasuke grinned.

"So, how does magic work?"

"I'm going to have to get back to you on that," Harry said awkwardly. "Hermione knows more about it than me."

"Hermione?"

"She's a friend of mine," Harry said, smiling a little.

"I see." Harry raised an eyebrow at his expressionless face.

"She and Ron were the ones that were helping me throughout the war," Harry said.

"Where are they now?" Sasuke asked.

"They're helping with the rebuilding of Hogwarts." Sasuke looked up at the castle.

"Rebuilding?"

"You can't tell now, but it was badly damaged," Harry explained. His gaze settled on the front entrance where the memorial had been held. He blinked when a firm grip turned him, and started dragging him away.

"And after the rebuilding?" Sasuke asked.

"They're going to head to Australia to look for Hermione's parents," Harry said.

"Is that far?" Harry nodded. Sasuke frowned. "So they're leaving you?"

"Yes..." Harry couldn't understand why he looked annoyed.

"They're abandoning you." Harry ripped his arm away, and furiously faced him.

"They are not!" he hissed. "Finding Hermione's parents is important to her since she had been the one who had to wipe their memories and send them away in first place. And besides, there's no need for them to stay with me─"

"How often have you had nightmares since then?" Sasuke interrupted. Harry froze.

“Excuse me?” Harry said.

“Your nightmares,” Sasuke repeated.

“I don’t have─”

“Are you really going to feign ignorance?” Sasuke said, crossing his arms. Harry groaned.

"How did you─"

"Because I've been there, remember." Harry took a shaky seat onto the steps. Sasuke did know, didn't he?

"What happened? You're a lot happier. Did everything go well for you?" Harry asked. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but eventually sighed, and sat down next to Harry.

"I left the village, as I told you I would," Sasuke said.

"To join the long haired Voldemort," Harry said, not sounding pleased.

"It was temporary," Sasuke said. Harry still frowned. "I only went to him for information. The Akatsuki was his enemy after all."

"The Akatsuki?"

"The group my brother had joined. When I got the information about his whereabouts and was strong enough to protect myself, I left to go find him."

"He let you go so easily?" Harry asked. Sasuke grimaced.

"I had to kill him─"

"You killed him?!"

"It's a long story about a cursed seal, and his obsession with immortality, but he wasn't actually dead, and my brother sealed him away, but then some subordinate of his tried to use his powers, and he came back." Harry blinked.

"Déjà vu," Harry muttered. "So what happened after that?"

"The atmosphere felt like there was going to be a war..."

"But?" Harry prompted.

"We left," Sasuke said simply.

"You and your brother?" Sasuke nodded. "So you guys have─"

"It turned out that he was forced to do what he did," Sasuke said. "They made him do it. They made him go through that kind of hell." Harry didn't know who the ‘they’ Sasuke was referring to, but he still felt for him. Having your life be manipulated, to put it bluntly, sucks. "If I didn't ask him, I wouldn't have learned any of this from him. I didn't even consider that there was an alternate explanation for what he did." Sasuke turned towards Harry. "It was because of you that I could be with my brother again." Harry actually blinked at the brightness of Sasuke's smile.

"I didn't really do anything," Harry muttered. "I just gave you some advice, and talked about myself."

"It doesn't change the fact that those words helped me." Harry had no idea what to say. He opened his mouth, and closed it again. "If possible, I want to help you in return," Sasuke continued.

"But I'm fine," Harry protested.

"Apparently not," Sasuke said, and Harry blushed.

"The nightmares are nothing new..." That probably wasn't the best thing to say, judging from the expression on his face.

"How long?" Harry looked around for a distraction.

"Hey, how about we go─"

"How long?" Sasuke repeated, grabbing his arm. Harry sighed.

"Since I could remember. It's just the subject matter of the dream keeps changing. Before, it used to be about Voldemort, but now... All the people that died... I could've saved them... If I’d only─"

"Stop telling yourself that!" Sasuke said sharply. "You were in a war. The people fighting knew what they were getting into─"

"Some of them were kids!"

"Did they willingly join the fight?"

"Yes..." Harry whispered.

"Then they knew what could happen. You shouldn't feel guilty over their actions. You also have to understand that _you_ didn't kill them. Voldemort and his people did."

"But─"

"And you killed him," Sasuke said, cutting him off. "You made sure that their deaths weren’t in vain. You have every right to mourn them, but you shouldn't feel guilty about something you couldn't control." Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"But, if I only defeated him earlier─"

"You couldn't control that," Sasuke said. Harry stared towards the forest. He knew it was dumb to think that it was his fault. He knew he couldn't control what happened, but it still didn’t change how he felt.

"Hermione said something similar after Sirius, my godfather, was killed." Sasuke's jaw dropped.

"He died?"

"He was killed by one of Voldemort's followers, Bellatrix, his cousin." Sasuke's eyes widened. "She's dead, though," Harry added.

"Good," Sasuke said under his breath. Harry smiled a little.

"What do you guys plan on doing?" Harry asked. He'd rather listen to Sasuke than discuss himself.

"He mentioned the Outer Lands, and we decided to head there. That way, we would be away from the war, and no one that knows about us would bother us."

"The Outer Lands?"

"It's some place outside the hidden countries..." Sasuke gave him an odd look. "Could that be...?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Is that where you live? In the Outer Lands?"

"I... don't know," Harry muttered. "I never heard of that name before, but─"

"But if you were to exist somewhere, it would be there," Sasuke said, brightening. Harry gave a small smile in return.

"If that's true, and you guys are heading there, then─"

"─there's a chance that we can meet!" Sasuke finished. Harry grinned wider. His smiled faded as he stared into the forest. Despite the sun, the forest became darker until it began to disappear. Sasuke followed his gaze, and became crestfallen. "Already," he muttered. Harry nodded.

"It's time."

"England, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. An island part of the continent of Europe." Sasuke nodded. The darkness began to engulf the edge of the grounds.

"We'll meet again," Sasuke said firmly. Harry gave a small laugh.

"I hope so," he said. They sat in silence until the darkness took over, and everything turned black.

••••••

With the sun in his face, Harry woke up. He squinted against the light, but couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. Feeling light and well rested, he went through his morning routine, and made a mental note to ask Hermione if she could help him a little with his research before she left. After all, there was a chance she might have heard about the Outer Lands and the Hidden Lands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case this gets asked, I will NOT be continuing this fic. (It's so that this fic stays gen, I'm sorry guys)


End file.
